Simple Kind of Life
by pandora1017
Summary: A run-in with Chris Jericho causes Amy to rethink her relationship with Matt...
1. 1:3 Confusion

Title: "Simple Kind of Life"  
Author: pandora1017  
Rating: R  
Content: [minor] Sexual situations, [minor] slash

Characters:  
Amy Dumas = Lita  
Chris Irvine = Chris Jericho  
Matt Hardy  
Jeff Hardy  
Trish Stratigias = Trish Stratus  
Adam Copeland = Edge 

.

With one last contented sigh, I rolled onto my side to lay my head on the chest of tall, dark, and handsome himself, Matt Hardy. Matt, likewise contented, dropped an arm around me and pulled me to him, kissing the top of my head. I wiped away red strands of hair plastered to my face by sweat and kissed the strong pectoral muscles that I once again rested my face against.

"Y'feel better now?" Matt asked, absently running his fingers up and down my arm as my heart finally started beating at a normal rate.

"You always did know how to make me forget a headache..."

"Y'sure y'don't want t'talk about it?"

I sighed and draped my other arm across Matt's stomach, the memories of pounding on the door of Matt's hotel room in a rush of confusion and frustration coming back to me. But they weren't as pressing anymore. "I'm sure, Matt. Thanks."

"Is it Chris?"

How did he always know that? I guess it wasn't hard to figure out anymore. I sighed, unresponsive.

"Why don't y'jus' tell him how ya feel?"

"I can't just do that, Matt."

"Why not?"

"Because he... he..."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of him," Matt chuckled. "Ah know you, y'not afraid of anythin'."

I smiled softly, absently teasing Matt's stomach with my fingertips. "No, I'm not afraid of him. He's just... such a..."

Callous shithead? Thick bastard? Asshole? Yeah, that's the main one. Of course, they're all true.

"Ah know y'like him."

"I know. I know it, too. But I shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"He's just... well, not nice."

"Well, yeah, he comes off a li'l harsh, but Ah'm sure that he's a great guy underneath all that."

I remained silent. I had, for some stupid reason, managed to crush hard on Chris Irvine. I adamantly use the word 'crush,' because I've realized over time that there is no such thing as love. And if I had love for anyone, it certainly would not be that bastard Chris. He was, for lack of a better word, an asshole. He would flirt with me, then ask what Trish was doing tonight. He was hot and cold, leading me on one minute then completely ignoring me the next. He was fucking with my head, and I think he was doing it on purpose. And for another stupid reason, I couldn't help but see past all that to the moments when he dropped his guard and I talked to Chris the person, not Chris the gimmick. He could be so deep and so real when he wanted to be, but he usually chose to make shallow cracks and avoid anything that showed him in a positive light. I knew there was a genuine, kind personality somewhere back there that matched his gorgeous, blonde haired, blue eyed, five foot ten inches of hot Canadian man, but I'd be damned if I could figure out why he tried so hard to hide it.

"Ah know y'thinkin' 'bout him, Ames."

I blinked, not realizing we'd been laying in silence. "Wha... what?"

"Y'grindin' y'teeth," Matt laughed slightly. "A dead give-away."

I smiled inspite of myself. "He just frustrates me!"

"Ah've seen him talkin' t'ya. He flirts with ya. Jus' take him up on it next time."

"When did you see us talking? This afternoon before the show?"

"Uh... yeah."

"Ha," I snorted, rolling my eyes. "You know how we finished that conversation? He asked me if I knew what Trish was doing tonight."

"He... what?"

"You heard me," I sighed, lowering my voice slightly with resignation.

"But... but Ah saw him, he was practically droolin' on ya."

"Yeah, I know," I sighed.

"Ah'm sorry, Ames."

"Don't worry about it," I tried to laugh it off as I pushed myself off of Matt. "He's not worth it."

Matt sat up with me and watched me run my hands through my hair, gather my clothes, and get dressed. "Amy..."

I stopped, half dressed, and turned to Matt as I buttoned my pants. "Hmm?"

"Ah jus' want t'make sure you're all right."

Smiling, I crawled over the bed and straddled Matt once again, kissing him softly. "You're too good to be true, Matt. But don't worry, I can handle myself."

Matt took my waist in his hands and held onto me, unwilling to let me go until he got a satisfactory answer to his query. I couldn't help but smile as I looked into his eyes. Matt just felt so comfortable, everything between us clicked. Just, somehow, not in a relationship. We tried a relationship once and it was terribly awkward and constraining. After a short while, we realized that it just wasn't working, so he broke it off. We went for plan B. To save any euphemism, Matt and I were fuck buddies. All the closeness we wanted, none of the complications of a real relationship. It was perfect, and what we both wanted and needed right now. A smile played on his lips as his eyes scanned mine. "Y'sure you're fine?"

"I'm sure," I promised. "Just as long as I'm not thinking about Chris."

"Amy," Matt chided, ignoring my weak attempt at a reassuring smile. He sighed, and met my eyes again. "Jus' don't drive y'self crazy over this, all right? It's not that important."

"Right," I shrugged, pulling myself from his hands and looking around for my shirt. "It's not like I'm in love or something."

"Aw, Ames, don't get started on that again..." Matt groaned, putting his hands to his head and falling back onto his pillow. I smirked to myself, finding my shirt and sliding it over my head. Matt and I had discussed this on numerous occasions. He was a hopeless romantic and someday expected the right man or woman to fall into his arms. My jaded opinions of love bothered him, although he'd long ago quit trying to change my mind. Finally slipping on my shoes, I picked up my key that I'd left on Matt's dresser, and looked back at him with a sigh. He had rolled onto his side and was watching me with a lazy smile.

"So how's the Adam front looking?" I asked, sitting on the bed next to him.

"Not good," he sighed. "Ah think we're finally done f'good."

"I'm sorry," I frowned slightly.

"Ah'm not. Better sooner than later. Ah had a feelin' this one wasn't gonna work, either."

"What makes you say that?"

"Th'fact that he never forgave me for f'gettin' his birthday th'last time."

"That'll do it," I frowned.

"Eh, it's all right. He's not th'one. Ah'm still waiting."

I smiled at him and shook my head, setting a hand on his side. "Well, I'd better be going. Trish is going to get suspicious if I don't show up soon."

"Y'still haven't told her 'bout us?"

"I don't think she'd understand our relationship," I explained with a smile.

"Ah jus' think she'd be jealous."

"Jealous of what? Your brother's probably up there," I joked.

Matt's jaw dropped and he pushed himself up. "Are you sayin' Jeff an' Ah even compare? You are gettin' a way better deal in this one."

I grinned and Matt took me into his arms for a hug. "Ok, darlin'. Come back anytime. Ah'm here for ya."

"Thanks, Matt," I smiled again, and finally headed for the door. For some reason, I always hesitated at Matt's door. I took a deep breath, then turned the knob and stepped into the hall - almost running into someone who had been passing by. I looked up quickly to apologize, but froze when I saw who it was.

"Well, well, well," Chris smirked, looking from me to the door. "Room 261? I could have swore you told me earlier you were staying in room 2_5_1."

"I am," I replied, slightly haughtily. "It doesn't mean I'm confined there."

"And room 261?" he continued, ignoring my comment. "If I remember correctly... isn't that where the Hardys are staying?"

"Congratulations, Sherlock. Figure that one out yourself or did you have to sweet talk it out of Trish?"

He smirked condescendingly at me, and I wrinkled my brow at him, confused. He was normally at least social to me. What was his issue all of a sudden? What was that I had called him? Asshole? He was certainly living up to it now. "Now what would you be doing in Matt's hotel room?"

"I don't know," I shot back, the sarcasm in my voice matching his, "maybe trying to get away from Jeff and Trish in my room?"

So what if I was lying, it was effective. His smirk dropped suddenly at my mention of Trish, and he looked me up and down, disgustedly. "I've heard about you and Matt. If anything, Jeff's at in Trish's room so she can paint his nails and dish about you two."

"What do you mean, you've 'heard about me and Matt?'"

"Well, I guess you haven't done anything wrong. I mean, just because the relationship didn't work doesn't mean you have to stop fucking, does it?"

My jaw dropped for a split second, then I regained my composure and glared at him, my hands forming fists at my side. I spoke through clenched teeth. "Why do you care? Jealous?"

"Hardly," he dismissed. "But I do have a question. When you're going down on him, do you ever stop and think, 'Hey, this has been in some guy's _ass_?'"

I was seeing red, and without even thinking, I took a swing. As soon as it connected, I realized what I was doing and gasped. I had knocked Chris down. I took a step back, putting my hand over my mouth. He shook his head slightly when he sat up, and moved his jaw carefully, testing it. He finally looked up at me with a cross between confusion and anger, and I instictively started backing up. Taking a couple more steps, I realized that Chris wasn't going to get up anytime soon, so I turned and walked determinedly to my room. Prick. 


	2. 2:3 Explanation

"Hey, didja hear about Chris?"

I turned to Trish, slightly surprised by her abrupt entrance into the locker room, and tried to play innocent. "Chris?"

"Yeah, he said he was walking down the hall and someone opened a door in front of him," she smiled as if she was trying to not laugh. "He's got a huge shiner."

"Is that what he said?" I asked instinctively, not thinking. Trish didn't seem to notice, however, she was digging through her bag with her back to me.

"Yeah," she answered with a laugh. "Couldn't have happened to a better person, I say."

I smiled to myself as well and finished up getting ready. Trish and I were pretty close, so she knew how I felt about Chris - both positive and negative. I hadn't told her about last night, but she had definite opinions. She respected the fact that I was crushing on him - despite his newfound homophobic sentiments regarding Matt - but she hated how he led me on. She tried to not insult him openly in front of me often, but if she got a chance, she took it. I finished tying my shoe and headed for the door. "I'm going to go see if I can get some ring time and warm up. I'll see you around."

"Later, sweetie," Trish called after me as I left. Stepping out into the hall, I tried to get my bearings. I was pretty sure the quickest way to the stairs was to the left, so I headed in that direction. After walking about ten feet, I found myself in a dead end with a door in front of me. I had a bad habit of getting lost easily in these places, so I just hoped that this door was the stairwell. I tested the door cautiously, and smiled when I found myself at the top of a flight of stairs. I jogged down quickly and ran into a door at the bottom. _Literally_ ran into. I was expecting it to open, but it didn't. I tried the knob, but it didn't budge. Wrong stairwell, I guess. I climbed up the stairs to where I had come in and tried that door. Locked.

"Shit," I cursed, through clenched teeth. "Goddamned one way locking doors..."

Dropping all pretenses of being collected, I started pounding on the door and screaming bloody murder. I stopped screaming for a moment to catch my breath, and at that very instant, the door opened. Unfortunately, it was opened by the Ayatollah himself, black eye and all. I froze.

"Whoa," he started putting up his hands defensively. "Easy there, Red."

I just glared at him and dropped my fist to my side. "Thanks."

"Thanks for what?" he asked, stepping into the stairwell and letting go of the door. My eyes jumped open and I dove past him to catch the door, but it fell shut too soon. I sighed again, then let my forehead fall against the door.

"I was going to say thanks for opening the door," I muttered. "But nevermind."

Chris wrinkled his brow at me, then tried the door himself. I backed out of the way as he tested it gently, then when he realized why I'd been pounding on the door, his eyes jumped open and he started pounding on the door as well. I stepped back and watched him with a bored look. It wasn't as if he was trying to make noise and get attention, I think he was trying to knock the door down. Riiiight. After a second, he took a step back and tried ramming the door shoulder first. The door didn't go anywhere, but he fell back against a wall with a grimace and holding his shoulder.

"Chris?"

He held up a finger as if to tell me to wait a minute, so I bounced on the balls of my feet for a moment, watching him with a smirk. After a couple deep breaths, he finally let go of his shoulder and looked at me. "The door at the bottom is locked?"

I wrinkled my nose and nodded. "Yeah."

"Well you seem awfully upbeat, all things considered," he sneered at me.

"I just think it's funny that you heard me pounding on the door and assumed I had a way out."

"Pounding on the door?" he asked, looking confused. That stopped my bouncing.

"You didn't hear me?"

"No."

"Then why did you open the door?"

"To go downstairs?" he asked rhetorically.

"That means we're stuck here until some other moron tries to use these stairs?"

"Congratulations, Sherlock," he mimicked me. "Figure that out yourself of did you have to -"

I snapped my eyes to him, glaring. "Why the hell would you go out of your way to piss me off right now?"

"What are you going to do," he fired back, "give me another black eye?"

"Just say the word, jerky," I baited him, cocking my fist back already.

"Nice and original, Red," he narrowed his eyes at me. "I guess you can either talk trash or be trash - not both."

"Well, that was the word," I snapped, taking a swing. He blocked my swing and spun me around until he had my back against him and he had my wrists. I struggled for a moment, then instictively crouched down and lifted his weight onto my back judo-style and twisted to drop him on the ground. He let go of me, surprised, and took the fall. When I realized what I had done, I gasped and knelt down next to him. He had hit the concrete pretty hard and was wincing, still laid out. "Oh my god, are you ok?"

"The last thing I need is your help," he muttered, turning away from me and sitting up. He put his hand on the back of his head and groaned. I bit my lip with a frown.

"I'm sorry, it was instinct..."

"Instinct. That's some instinct you got there - injuring me every time you see me."

"Oh, don't play innocent," I sneered, my maternal instincts vanishing rapidly. I got to my feet and crossing my arms over my chest. "You're the one calling me trash and talking shit about Matt."

He gave me a dirty look, then shuffled around so he could sit on the ground and lean against the wall. "Well, I would ask why you're so damn protective of Matt, but I guess I already know."

I narrowed my eyes and glared down at him. "What do you know about what Matt?"

"Well, you pretty much told me I was dead on last night when you clocked me. Am I missing something?"

"I hit you because of what you were implying -"

"Well, that and Jeff told me."

"Shit," I swore under my breath, turning away from him.

"Seriously," he said, "think about it. You guys aren't in a relationship or anything. So what is it? Are you using him 'cause he's good in bed or vice - gah!"

Chris cut off abruptly and cried out in pain when I grabbed him by the ear. I leaned over in front of him and spoke sternly. "Listen to me. Matt is very special to me, and if you try and insult either him, his sexuality, or me any further, I'm going to add more to your laundry list of injuries from me."

Chris scowled at me and knocked my hand away. "Damn, Red, and I thought we were friends."

"_Friends_? What kind of friend says..." I straightened up and drew in a self-righteous breath just thinking about it, "what you said about me last night?"

"I just don't understand how you can sleep with him day in and day out if you don't love him," Chris shrugged.

"What do you mean, I don't love him? I do love Matt! Matt is the only man I've ever loved. He's my best friend, he's never let me down," I cast a peripheral glance to Chris, "or led me on. He has been there for me since the first day I met him, and never expected anything from me. He is the most caring person I've ever met - and how dare you even say that I don't love him."

"God," Chris rolled his eyes. "Get off your soapbox. You know what I mean. If you two love each other, why aren't you in a relationship?"

"I.." I looked down at him again, surprised. Somehow, while trying to think of an answer, I ended up sinking to the ground, sitting on the top step with my back to Chris. Finally I answered, with resignation, "I don't know. We tried it once, but it didn't work."

"Because of you or him?"

I hesitated, remembering how upset I'd been when Matt originally suggested our break up. My voice waivered as I answered, "Both of us..."

"For some reason I don't believe that."

"Oh, what do you know?" I sneered.

"I know love when I see it," he muttered.

"Hmph," I sighed. "I don't believe in love."

Chris rolled his eyes. "How can you love Matt and not believe in love?"

"That's two different kinds of love. Matt's different."

"Bullshit, Amy."

I looked over my shoulder at him quickly. He'd never called me Amy before. "What?"

"I said that's bullshit, Red. Love is love, and if you can love Matt as a friend, you can love other people. Or are you just so afraid of the real world that you're using Matt as a buffer so you don't have to ever really feel anything? I mean, I never imagined you to be the type that would hide behind someone to avoid new experiences..."

I sat there in shock for a moment, uncertain of how to respond to that. Something in the back of my mind told me that he was hitting too close to home, and I finally snapped. "Why are you so goddamned concerned about my love life? Shouldn't you be asking about Trish right about now?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I stopped. Shit. I stood up and whispered, "Nothing."

"Why should I be asking about Trish?" he asked again, getting to his feet as well.

"'Cause you always ask about Trish," I sighed, shrugging. There was a silence for a while, and I took a couple steps down to put some distance between me and Chris. What the hell was this emotion that was trying to overwhelm me? Chris had proved himself to be the prick I knew he was and then some! How was he getting to me like this? Was I still in... Was I still crushing on him? I bit my lip again and examined the ground nervously, praying these butterflies would pass. There was silence for a moment, then I heard Chris coming down the flight of stairs to the landing in the middle.

"And what if Matt falls in love with someone else?" he pressed. His voice wasn't mocking or cruel, he sounded genuinely concerned. "Will that hurt you?"

I turned to find him much closer than I expected him to be. I looked dead into those bright blue eyes as my vision blurred with tears. Goddammit, Amy, don't let him do this to you.

"No," I breathed, shakily. Then swallowed to regain some composure. "He was trying to hook up with Adam for the past three months, it doesn't matter to me. It's not like I _need_ it, we're just having fun."

Chris just watched me, a frown tugging at his lips. I tried to break eye contact with him - I didn't want him to see me cry - but couldn't bring myself to do it. Why was I doing this? What was wrong with me? When the first tear fell, Chris was right there to brush it away, leaning in and whispering, "Why are you crying?"

"Why are you doing this?" I snapped, pulling away from him.

"Doing what?"

"I'm not hurting Matt! He told me! He gets as much from me as I do from him."

"But he's hurting you - if you love him," Chris explained.

I stopped snivelling for a moment and examined my shoes. "He's not hurting me."

"Do you love him?" he asked me. I could tell from the tone in his voice he didn't mean friendship love, and I started to question my own motives. I turned away from him and he set a hand on my shoulder. "What if there was someone who wanted you to be more than 'friends with benefits' - but they were hesitant to approach you because they didn't understand your relationship with Matt?"

"No one knows about Matt and me except Jeff -" I stopped short when the realization hit me. "...and you."

At that, I looked over my shoulder and found that Chris, for possibly the first time I'd ever seen, was blushing. I scowled. "Oh, no, no, no..."

"What?" he looked up, confused.

"You aren't interested in me," I informed him as I turned on my heel and went back up the stairs. "You're always asking about Trish."

"Well, you aren't exactly the easiest person to hit on," he answered quickly, following right behind me.

"_What_?" I demanded, turning on him as I reached the top landing. He was right behind me and took a step backwards.

"I'll admit it - you're slightly intimidating, especially since I never knew if you were actually with Matt. And when I get nervous, I change the topic."

"To _Trish_?"

"Hey," he started to get angry, "sometimes I have a little trouble thinking straight around you, ok?"

I froze and let that register. "I'm not sure, but that might have been the most romantic thing anyone's ever said to me."

Chris looked at me, confused. "And then when I'm thinking straight, I still don't understand you."

His eyes flashing down to my waist and he threw up his open hands to me quickly. "Please don't hit me again, I still won't defend myself."

I looked down to see what he was talking about and realized that my hands were clenching at my sides. I slowly relaxed my fingers. "So you don't like Trish?"

"She's a nice girl, but she doesn't have the same... fight that you do," Chris shrugged, and gestured to his face. "She's never decked me."

"That's not really a quality many guys look for in a girl."

"I deserved it."

"Yes, you did." A soft smile finally cracked my stoic look, and I sighed. "Why did you say that last night?"

"It's my nature, I guess," he sighed this time, turning away from me and sitting down on the top step. "I insult things I don't like. Sometimes I take it too far, I guess."

"So you _don't_ have a problem with Matt?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and looking down at him.

"Well, sure I do. You love him - and that's a problem for me," he explained. "That and insane jealousy that he can be with you anytime he wants."

I considered that, and took a step down and sat next to Chris. "Why do you keep insisting that I love Matt?"

"You said you did."

"Not like that."

"Don't you?" he asked, looking me dead in the eye. I watched him for a moment, falling back into his blue eyes. How did he know me better than I knew myself? I do love Matt, don't I? He was always the one who tried to push things away - not me. But I loved Matt as a friend, right? It was Chris I wanted to be with ...right? Matt sure as hell didn't love me like that, he had moved on. And I had to move on, too. I closed my eyes and met Chris for a kiss. He was more than willing to participate as he put a hand on my back to pull me to him. I slid my hand down the side of his face and slowly brushed my lips over his before pulling away. When I opened my eyes, I felt a slight exhilaration at the fact that, for the first time in over a year, I didn't find warm chocolate colored eyes glittering back at me. Chris lifted his hand and gently brushed loose hair behind my ear. "I guess not."

I actually laughed, and he smiled back. This was the Chris that I liked, not that one who first came into the stairwell. Acting on instinct again, I closed my eyes and leaned into Chris once more. He met me for another gentle kiss. There was a lingering thought in my mind of Matt, but I reminded myself of how he broke up with me and was chasing after Adam, then reset my hand on the side of Chris's face, more concerned with the moment at hand. After a second, there was a ringing and I broke the kiss abruptly. He froze in place and his pocket rang again. I crossed my arms over my chest with a glare and he sheepishly retrieved the phone from his pocket.

"Hello?" He looked to me nervously, then back to the phone, dryly. "Yeah, and you have an impecible sense of timing, man.... Uh, could you come open the door down the hall from the women's locker room? ... yeah, thanks."

With that, he hung up quickly and examined the ground.

"You had a _cell phone_?!"

He didn't bother trying to respond, and within a second the door behind us opened. It did cross my mind how quickly that had happened but I didn't get a chance to ask about it when I saw who had opened the door. "Jeff?"

"Hey, Ames," he answered, looking almost as sheepish as Chris did. I stepped out into the hall as quick as I could, followed by Chris and Jeff. I turned on them quickly.

"You set this up?"

Chris held up his hands, helplessly. "I wanted a chance to apologize..."

"God!" I yelled, and nailed him with another punch. Jeff caught him as he fell back, and I glared at him. "And you were in on this?"

"Amy -"

"Don't talk to me," I snapped and spun on my heel, stomping off down the hall. 


	3. 3:3 Decision

"Amy," Matt said sternly, getting up from his spot next to Trish on the bed and putting his hands on my shoulders to stop my furious pacing across the hotel room. "Calm down."

"Calm down?" I asked, spinning to face him. "How can you even ask me to calm down? He locked me in a stairwell!"

"Ah'm not askin', Ah'm tellin' ya - _calm down_. Y'gonna have an aneurism if ya keep this up."

"At least if I have an aneurism I won't be able to think about throttling that bastard."

"I think it's kinda sweet," Trish interjected, causing Matt and I both to turn to her in shock. "...in a weird sort of way."

I narrowed my eyes at her and she jumped up quickly. "You know, I think I'm going to go... somewhere."

"Here," Matt sighed, pulling his hotel key out of his pocket and handing it to her. "Go t'my room, 191."

"Thanks," Trish answered quickly, looking relieved, and bolted out of the door. I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath as I considered punching the wall. I either had to hit something or scream.

"ARGH!" I yelled, not bothering to form actual words as I turned and kicked the wall next to me. In a split second, Matt was behind me again, gently rubbing my arms.

"Amy, please -"

"I just..." I sighed, relaxing into his touch. "I can't believe he did that. And I can't believe your brother helped him. Goddammit, next time I see Jeff -"

"Ames," Matt whispered, kissing my collar bone softly. "Please calm down."

I tensed slightly with a sharp intake of breath, then released it slowly as Matt continued up my neck. Closing my eyes, I let go of my anger with long deep breaths and let his touch disapate my thoughts. Turning to him, I kissed him softly as my hands found their way to the hem of his shirt and I pulled it over his head. He lifted me up by the waist and I wrapped my legs around him, letting him carry be over to the bed. He laid me down gently, kneeling over me and kissing my neck softly again. It wasn't until he slid his hands up my stomach that Chris's words came back to me.

"Wait," I sighed. Matt looked at me, surprised.

"What's wrong?"

"This is. Chris was right."

"What?"

"He... they... well, Jeff told him about us, and he made some comments that made a lot of sense to me."

"Jeff _what_?"

"He told him. He told Chris that we're..." I shrugged, trying to think of a nice phrase, "friends with benefits, and -"

Matt sat up and leaned back on his heels, with an angry look on his face. "Ah'll kill him."

"Wait, Matt -"

"He has no right t'insult ya 'cause of me, an' -"

"No, no, it wasn't like that."

"What was it like, then?" Matt asked sarcastically, as I propped myself up on my elbows.

"He said... he said that I'm using you as a shield to avoid getting hurt by other people."

"What?"

"As long as we do this, Matt, I feel comfortable with you, and I don't notice other people - people who I could have a healthier relationship with."

"That's not -"

"When was the last time you tried a different relationship?"

"Adam," he answered, matter-of-factly.

"You used to have something special with Adam, but because of me, you let a second chance slip through your fingers."

"No, Ah didn't."

"You did, Matt," I frowned. "But there's more."

"Five minutes ago y'wanted t'kill this guy, now you're usin' his insults as life lessons?"

"I love you."

Matt froze. "No, y'don't."

"Yeah, I do."

He got up from over me and sat on the side of the bed. "Ah thought y'didn't believe in love."

"I didn't... for a long time. Chris reminded me."

"We discussed this, Ames, an' y'said -"

"I said whatever I thought it would take for you to not leave me completely."

"Y'lied t'me?"

I frowned and looked away. "Yes."

"Y'made me think things were fine when Ah was actually leadin' ya on, an' -"

"No!" I turned back to him. "I always knew what you thought, you were never leading me on...I guess I was leading you on in a way."

"Ah'm hurtin' ya."

"I was actually trying to convince myself that I didn't love you, just so we could keep up this facade," I whispered.

"Amy..." he moaned, and dropped his head into his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Matt. I never meant for it to go this far..."

"How far did it go?" he asked into his hands.

"I'm just throwing this all at you, when I originally said I wouldn't..."

"This is true."

"I guess somewhere inside, I just believed that if I waited long enough, you'd come around."

"_Come around_?"

"But I don't believe that anymore," I explained, getting up to my knees and setting a hand on his back.

"No?"

"No," I repeated. "Somewhere along the line, I came to the conclusion that it was important to me to give off the appearance of being free. What better way to be independant than to not look for a man to complete me?"

"Jus' how much was Chris chargin' ya for this session?"

I sighed. "I'm sorry, Matt."

"Don't be," Matt sighed, leaning back and looking at me. "It's better that we clear th'air."

"He just... well, I guess he pointed out how selfish I was being. I was controlling you."

"Ah was lettin' ya control me, if anythin'," Matt corrected, and I smiled softly.

"For the longest time, I was just so sure that sooner or later everything would fall into a storybook ending for us. Now I know it won't."

"Is this a good or bad thing?"

I took a deep breath and stood up. "Good. Because now I can move on."

Matt followed me up. "Are y'leavin'?"

I just nodded.

"F'good?"

"Oh, Matt," I smiled, "I could never leave you for good."

"Where're ya goin' t'go? This is your room..."

"I think I owe Chris an apology."

Matt looked at me incredulously. "Chris who locked ya in th'stairwell?"

"I guess it's kinda sweet..." I shrugged. "In a weird sort of way."

I started to leave, but Matt caught my arm. "Amy... wait."

I looked up at him, surprised, and he sighed. "Ah do love ya. Y'know that, right?"

"Of course I know," I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. After a second, he gently dropped his arms around me.

"Good," he kissed the top of my head lovingly. "Do y'regret... what we did?"

I leaned my ear against his shoulder and just listened for a moment, thinking. "No. But would I do it again...? I'm not sure."

"You're a wonderful girl, Amy," Matt whispered. "Ah wouldn't trade ya for th'world."

"Same here, Matt."

"Well, c'mon. Let's get ya t'Chris," Matt sighed. I took a step back from Matt with a grin, and he let me go slowly. He slid his shirt back on, then followed me out of the room. "D'ya know where Chris is stayin'?"

"No," I smirked. "Maybe your brother will."

Matt grinned. "He's pretty connivin' when he wants t'be."

"So I've noticed," I laughed, stopping in front of Matt's room. He knocked on the door, and Trish opened it. She looked at Matt's and my grins, then smiled herself. "Is Jeff around?"

"Yeah - Jeff!"

"Ah'm not goin' anywhere near Amy after what she did t'Chris," a voice drawled from inside the room.

Trish smirked. "It's Matt."

"Oh," Jeff answered, and got up. He froze in his tracks when he saw me. "Y'tricked me."

Trish shrugged with a smile. "Hm. I guess I did. And on that note, I'd better get going."

I don't know where the idea came from, but as Trish tried to step past me, I casually put my foot in front of hers and tripped her - right into Matt's arms. Trish looked up apologetically, but smiled when she looked Matt in the eye and found him smiling at her. It was a smile that I knew well. Job well done, if I do say so myself. Matt started to ask if she was ok and I turned to Jeff. "Hey, where's Chris staying?"

"By th'ice machine," Jeff called, from about six feet away. Aparantly he wasn't taking any chances. I smiled.

"No, really."

"Are ya gonna hit him again? He'll be pissed if Ah direct ya t'givin' him a third right cross."

"I promise not to hit him," I swore.

"Or throw him?"

"Or throw him."

"212, but ya didn't hear it from me."

"I understand," I laughed and took a step back, casting a glance to Matt and Trish. The smooth one was already asking her to go out for some coffee. I bit my lip to hide a smile and went to the stairs. As the door closed behind me, I hesitated for a moment, then shook my head and jogged up a level. When I reached the top, I hesitated again, finding myself face to face with Chris, holding an ice pack on his face. The door behind him was shut.

"You wouldn't hit a guy with a bag of ice on his eye, would you?"

"That depends - is that door behind you locked?"

Chris pushed on it slightly and it didn't budge. My heart stopped beating for a moment, until I heard Chris laugh and he pushed the door open.

"Well, look at that," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "I came up here to apologize and already I want to deck you again."

"What can I say? It's a talent," he shrugged and dropped the ice pack, revealing a slight increase in the size of the black eye, then did a double take. "You were going to apologize?"

"I cut it off with Matt."

"You did?" he asked, sounding more surprised than I had expected. "Why?"

"Because of what you said. Because of you," I explained, taking a step closer to him so we were almost nose to nose. "For you."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Yeah," I smiled back, and he kissed me. I cut it short when I started laughing.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what it'd be like to kiss you somewhere other than a stairwell."

Chris raised a brow, then held the door open for me to pass. "That's easy enough to find out..." 

.

.

_ For a long time I was in love  
Not only in love, I was obsessed  
With a friendship that no one else could touch  
It didn't work out, I'm covered in shells_

And all I wanted was the simple things  
A simple kind of life  
And all I needed was a simple man  
So I could be a wife

I'm so ashamed, I've been so mean  
I don't know how it got to this point  
I always was the one with all the love  
You came along, I'm hunting you down

Like a sick domestic abuser looking for a fight  
And all I wanted was the simple things  
A simple kind of life

If we met tomorrow for the very first time  
Would it start all over again?  
Would I try to make you mine?

I always thought I'd be a mom  
Sometimes I wish for a mistake  
The longer that I wait the more selfish that I get  
You seem like you'd be a good dad

Now all those simple things are simply too  
complicated for my life  
How'd I get so faithful to my freedom?  
A selfish kind of life  
When all I ever wanted was the simple things  
A simple kind of life

[Gwen Stefani] 


End file.
